Human
by Ghostwriter9396
Summary: It's been two years since Diana joined the LOSH. Everything seems to be going great until her hidden past reemerges and threatens to destroy her. On top of that she's recently met up with an old friend who confesses his love for her. When things spiral out of control can Brainy remind her what it means to be human? And can he do it in time to save the others from a horrific fate?
1. The Beginning

Here we go. To those of you who read The Game of Servival (yes, I really misspelled the title bc I used to suck at Spell Check back then), this is the original Shadowflames that the other one is based off of. Diana was originally my own LOSH member and I used her as a sketch to create Samantha Robinson, a theoretical online comic that's still in progress…one of these days though…

Anyhow, Diana Jones has all the powers that Sam had; controlling/conjuring fire and shadow solidification; but she does not turn into a giant fox anthro beast thing.

Also, the other story kind of sucked so this one will hopefully be its redemption…hopefully.

DISCLAIMER: DC owns all the characters except the obvious OC's I put in here

Please comment and be honest about your opinions. One thing I cannot stand is people lying to spare feelings. If you hate it let me know. Although if you honestly love it that would be good to know as well ;D

ENJOY!

Ch. 1: The Beginning

She ran. That's all her mind told her to do. She ran and ran, pushing tree limbs out of her way and stumbling over roots and loose stones beneath her bare feet.

Nine year old Diana Jones saw everything in her mind, replaying again and again as if her brain was on a never ending loop. She saw them, the man beating a four year old Kevin until he stopped moving, blood pooring from his head. The woman complaining about the mess on the rug she now would have to clean up. Diana saw herself, trying to reach out to protect him, to shield him and she saw the man turn and slap her to the ground, keeping her out of the way. Diana felt the needles push into her skin, heard the other man and woman discuss levels of chemical concentration. She saw the fire, the man falling as flames licked his body, the woman running out the back room. And then she saw herself turn and run, the oversized white cotton shirt she wore whipping around her knees as she moved, her mid back length brown hair flying behind her. And then she saw Kevin's face again, smiling up at her. The images wouldn't go away.

She finally fell forward after tripping on a particularly high tree root and lay face down as the rain beat down on her, cooling her skin till it shivered. She looked over at her left wrist, where a large black band sat, a digital clock face with multiple buttons and knobs attached to it. She wanted to get away, any where but here. She pushed herself up on her elbows and fiddled with a few knobs before the band grew hot and started vibrating. A bright white light swept over her and the next thing she knew she was floating in nothingness.

When she opened her large hazel eyes she saw that where ever she had landed, it was sunny. She sat up, clutching her head. It was clear that her teleportation watch had worked, now just to see where it had taken her to.

She was sitting in an alley way, from what she could see when she looked towards the entrance, she had landed in a city. Maybe it was because she had hit her head, or because she was exhausted beyond reason, but the people walking on the sunny sidewalk looked weird. All different colors, and not the normal ones. She saw tall thin green ones, short fat pink ones, small purple blobs, blue slug like creatures and yellow fuzzy puff balls bouncing along as if it was the most normal thing in the world. She blinked, hard, rubbed her eyes and stared again. Nope, the things were still there, along with hovering crafts she had mistaken for over sized birds. Where was she?

Diana looked down at her watch and had to triple check the date, June 11, 3004. Somehow, she had been blasted a full thousand years into the future, into the 31st century. This was kind of an unexpected turn of events. The stupid thing was supposed to take her to another location not another time.

It took Diana a full eight seconds to realize that she was in the future. It took eight minutes to realize that the watch had short circuited, she was stuck, and on the bright side of things she had managed to get away, very far away. And it took her eight years to find where she fit in.

A short teenage girl stood outside the Head Quarters to the Legion of Superheroes. She wore jeans, boots with thick souls, a black sleeveless muscle shirt under a red and black sports jacket with high collar zipped all the way up, and a black baseball cap flipped backwards on top of a pixie style hair cut. Her thick brown bangs, which were cut at an angle and usually parted on the left side, were spread across her forehead, stopping just short of her hazel eyes. Her arms were crossed and she was waiting for them to call her name. There were others standing around her, weird freaks of nature around her age waiting for the same thing she was. They were all talking excitedly together, sharing their powers and reasons for wanting to join the team. A few looked over at Diana but didn't approach her. No doubt she looked out of place in her jeans when everyone else wore spandex. She had been pleasantly shocked to discover jeans still existed this far into the future, especially seeing as how they didn't seem to be in season anymore. But deciding that it was probably best to stick to her usual style of clothing, she didn't care one way or the other. She had tried the spandex and it had just made her feel uncomfortable in many many ways.

She had thought about talking to a few of the nicer looking kids standing around her, but every time she tried, she froze up. She never had been good with initiating conversation. She was the prime example of social awkwardness.

Finally a boy slightly taller than her, with green eyes and orange skin came walking out of the building grinning widely. He walked over to a few others and gave them confident high fives. Then her name was called.

"Shadowflames." A large boy in blue spandex with yellow goggles on his head, holding a clip board called out. She walked forward, feeling incredibly put on the spot as she did so. She could feel the others' stares as she walked up to the large doors and into the marble building.

"So, you wanna be a member of the Legion." Stated a red haired boy with light blue eyes and a scar on his face. He was scrutinizing her carefully. She had no doubt that she, out of everyone else, looked the strangest. To the boy's left sat a green kid with blonde hair and eyes that seemed to shift from purple to pink. On the red head's right sat the large blue boy. What was she supposed to do?

"Yes, I do." She said as loudly as she could, which unfortunately wasn't loud enough for the boys sitting so high up. So she had to repeat herself, her voice cracking a little as she bit her bottom lip nervously, twisting her hands in front of her.

"It says here that your powers are wielding fire and solidifying shadow." Said the green boy in an official tone. She nodded.

"Well, let's see what you can do." Said the blue boy and he pressed a button. On either side of her, automatic doors opened and a flood of robotic dummies came floating out. She eyed them carefully, counting them as they surrounded her.

"Fifteen against one." She muttered to herself. "God, don't go easy on me boys." She leapt into the air and did a spectacular back flip out of the ring of robots. They all started coming at her but she raised her hand in a swooping upward motion. The shadow underneath the first robot lifted off the ground and engulfed the metallic thing in an air tight black buble. She started swinging the ball around, knocking the robots down all around her, piling them up a few at a time. When she dropped the the robot she had used as a battering ram on top of the pile it was crushed and smoking. All the three boys looked mildly impressed.

"That it?" she asked, still uneasy of having to perform for them.

"I don't think so." Said the blue boy pointing at the robots. She turned and rolled her eyes.

"Like I said, don't make this easy." She grumbled as the robots started to move again, clearly not down for the count just yet. She formed a shadow dome around the pile before one of them had a chance to get back up and then spread out another shadow at her feet. She knelt down, a hand holding a fist full of flames.

"Wait!" cried the red head. "What are you-"

She planted her palm on the shadow circle lying on the floor and the flames vanished. A second later there came a loud BOOM from the shadow dome and it shook a little. A few moments passed and then she let the dome fall away. There, lying on the floor in a perfect pile lay the remains of the robots, smoking slightly.

"Now, that's it." She said quietly, standing up and dusting her hands off before crossing her arms again. She looked up at the three boys who looked stunned.

She walked back out and another hour and half later, the boy in blue, Bouncing Boy, came back out to talk to all of them.

"It was a really close call this year." He began. "You all showed a great deal of promise and talent that the Legion can use. However we only have enough room to take on two of you this year. So the winners are Chameleon Boy and Shadowflames."

Diana looked over at the orange skinned kid who was maybe a year younger than her. He was punching the air shamelessly and it took her a few seconds to realize she was jumping up and down, cheering. The moment she noticed she stopped, blushing a deeper shade of red than her jacket and bit her bottom lip, hands shoved deep into pockets, a smile still on her heated face.

Bouncing Boy laughed and gestured for both of them to follow him back inside. There, they saw the entire Legion gathered around, ready to initiate them into the group of crime fighting heroes. Diana snapped on the belt, slid on the ring, and with Chameleon Boy recited the oath.

It took her a while to feel at ease with everyone, but once she did it was clear she was a ball of light in more ways than just her fire power. She gave each member a special nickname she alone called them, making sure it was okay with them before really putting into use. She was sarcastic but not mean, in fact it was her funniest attribute. She was a total kid at times, getting over excited about the smallest things which made her a great person for Triplicate Girl and Shrinking Violet to hang with. But Diana also had a strong, independent maturity about her that the others didn't see unless she was talking about something deadly serious. She proved to be just as smart if not more so than half the members, except of course Brainiac 5. It took him a while to get used to her bursts of enthusiasm, but he quickly became one of her best friends and it was rare to not see the two of them pouring over old history files together during their down time.

Diana explained enough of her past to the others that, thanks to a malfunctioning invention of hers, she had landed here from the 21st century, and had no desire whatsoever to get back.

Over time Diana, Shadowflames, lived with the Legion. She fought crime along side them, hung out with them, fought with a few of them, helped some get over troubles and internal conflicts. She was finally starting to feel like she had found a home when, two years later, everything changed for the worst.


	2. The Run In

Ch. 2: The Run In

They stared at each other intently, hazel eyes boring into squinted purple/pink ones.

"Check mate."

Cosmic Boy walked into the lounge area just in time to hear Shadowflames protest.

"No way! How?"

Brainy pointed out his pieces that had her king trapped and she slumped in her seat.

"Pathetic." She grumbled, looking up at the ceiling as she tipped her king over, surrendering.

"Shades, I don't know why you insist on playing against him." Said Chameleon Boy who was lying on a sofa, bouncing a red ball against the wall. "He's a computer. That right there should tell you that you'll never win."

"It's highly improbable, but not entirely impossible." Stated Brainy. "You just need to keep both eyes open and go over every probability and counter maneuvers for each one before moving."

Diana looked over at him with a stony expression on her face. "The day I can do that, Brain Boy, and keep the game time under a week will be the day Superman asks me to marry him."

"So, in other words it's never gonna happen." Laughed Cosmic Boy. They all turned to him.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Magnet Head." Smirked Diana.

"Hey, you're the one who said it first."

"Why are here, anyways?" Chameleon Boy asked, still playing wall ball, tossing the ball with one hand and catching it with the other. "I thought you were in the third quadrent taking care of some mind control parasite that had escaped or whatever."

"Taken care of." Cosmic Boy said simply. "Though, I did run into some problems that I think I should discuss with you."

Instantly all three were alert. "Shoot." Chameleon Boy said, grabbing his ball and holding it.

"I don't think the parasites were a lab accident as the council on Midar would have us believe. That planet's famous for its experiments going awry but these things seemed to have a particular goal. They were supposed to be unpredictable and dangerous. I was warned that they would try and attach to me as it was their nature to 'feed' off of conscious thought. However, when I encountered them, they didn't even try to fly towards me; they just made another path around. I think they were sent out on purpose, they hadn't 'escaped' at all."

"Could it be that your magnetic abilities just prevented them from approaching you?" Chameleon Boy asked. "I mean, they're metal, right? Could their charge just be repelled by your natural pulse, thus forcing them to avoid you?"

Brainiac 5 had his thinking face on. "I'm not so sure." He muttered. "Cosmic Boy's powers allow him to change his magnetism in order to attrack or repel objects, when his powers aren't activated he's just a normal guy."

"The question is," said Shadowlfames, her brow furrowed. "if they were released on purpose, who or what is their goal and who's behind the attack? They were just experimental war toys, right?"

"Yeah, and there was a very limited list of personnel who had access to the lab where they were kept." Sighed Cosmic Boy. "None of them have any alternative motive up their sleeves."

"Are you sure?" Chameleon Boy asked.

"Saturn Girl and Lightning Lad went with me, remember? Saturn Girl did a telepathic sweep of all five scientists and found nothing."

"Were you able to collect a parasite? Maybe if we analyze it we can at least get an idea of what it's up to." Shadowflames suggested, looking over at Brainy who showed no indication of whether or not he would be able to do this.

"Yeah, a stray attached to the back of Lightning Lad's head. Poor thing probably would've starved to death if I hadn't pulled it off."

"I heard that." Lightning Lad walked in, followed by Saturn Girl.

"Well if the leach was able to snag a thought or two out of that thick skull it would've sucked you dry and you'd just be a walking zombie now." Cosmic Boy smirked.

"Very funny." Lightning Lad said dryly as he handed Brainy a container that held a wiggling metallic worm like creature about five centimeters long.

"Handsome things, aren't they." Said Diana looking at the thing curiously. "So how do they work with warfare?"

"Their teeth." Said Brainiac 5, doing a quick pre-scan with his ocular lenses. "They bite onto the head of who ever they're trying to get information out of and scan the brain for memory or active thoughts. The teeth record the codes in numerical digits and the parasites are downloaded onto hard drives that translate the information. These 'leaches' as Cosmic Boy calls them would be the ultimate interrogation method."

"Couldn't the person having their brains sucked out just call up false information?" asked Chameleon Boy who, unlike Diana, was looking a little freaked out by the worm.

"Like we said, it's still experimental." Answered Brainiac 5, now putting the container into a pouch attached to his belt. "And no method of anything is 100% fool proof. However, the person trying to resist these things would have to go under a certain training session to master their minds to counteract the pulses of the parasites. So until such a method is discovered, if it hasn't been already, they're top technology right now."

"I've read a few articles about them actually." Chimed in Diana. "They're not exactly a secret, and there've been some debates on the effects those bugs have on the mind. If left on for too long according to some scientists, they can actually cause perminate memory loss. Apparently they don't record copies, they take the actual thought."

"That's imposible, isn't it?" asked Lightning Lad, turning to Saturn Girl. "Quick, check to see what that thing took from me."

"I haven't noticed any changes with your mind, Lightning Lad. Calm down." She reassured him.

"Well, seeing as how there's never much to notice to begin with, maybe you should do a thorough examination." Cosmic Boy said firmly.

"You wanna go?" snarled Lightning Lad.

Saturn Girl quickly took his hand and started pulling him away. "Fare point." She said.

"What?" he asked, startled as he allowed her to drag him out of the lounge.

"I'm going to go crash and recharge." Cosmic Boy said, stretching. "We traveled two days straight and haven't had a chance to even close our eyes. You wanna come keep me warm, Di?"

"I'd stick to attracting metal, Magnet Head. Animal magnetism isn't your strong suit. Besides, I'd just end up burning ya."

"Ouch. For a fire fairy you sure can be cold." He laughed as he walked out of the room.

"I'm going to go analyze this." Announced Brainy. "The sooner we know what kind of mission these parasites have the sooner we can stop them. I might even be able to build some sort of helmet that can protect our thoughts when we confront them."

"Mind if I join you? I'm anxious to study that up close." Diana said, crossing her fingers under the table.

"Sure, you can help me map out a sketch of its properties."

The two of them walked away, leaving Chameleon Boy alone in the lounge.

"I guess I'll just stay here then." He said to himself, settling back into position on the sofa and resuming his game of one man catch.

Three hours later Brainy and Shadowflames sat at a table in a café, drinking and discussing the parasite.

"So, its weak spot is the tiny screw on the side of its jaw?"

"Yes. The screw holds not only the mouth together, but it runs through the entire structure. Take that out and the parasite will devide into two, taking away its ability to latch on to its victims." Brainiac 5 explained.

"And we also believe that the screw holds the data the parasite collects." She continued, sipping her mocha thoughtfully. He nodded in agreement.

Diana looked down into her cup. In her own time, three to five gigabits were considered a lot of inforcation. Now, there was a tiny screw with a head smaller than a thumb tack and a computer chip lodged in the dead center of it holding a thousand times more than that. And the data it held wasn't digital, it was pure thought.

"It's still overwhelming for you, isn't it."

She looked up and saw Brainiac 5 studying her.

"Just a little. I mean, I was viewed as a child protégée back in the 21st century. I was reading by the time I was two, I understood science and math on a fourth grade level by the time I was five, and I started experimenting and making my own inventions by the time I was eight. The teleportation watch that brought me here in the first place was my first invention and instead of bending space to travel at an instantaneous speed as was my intentions; it bends both space and time and shoots me a thousand years into the future where I would loose a simple trivia game to a grade school child. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to repare that oh so spectacular watch of mine because the technology I used isn't just out of date in this century, it's down right cave man error. So yeah, I would say I'm still pretty overwhelmed." She sighed, stirring her mocha before taking another sip.

"That might have been true ten years ago when you first came here." He replied. "But you've done a lot of studying since then, ten years worth. You don't have a twelfth level intelligence, but you're the second knowledgeable member on the team. They actually call you the talking encyclopedia." He told her. She looked up at him again and saw that he was giving her his small smile. That grin always seemed to soften his features to the point he almost looked human. She smiled back.

"Thanks Brain Boy."

"So this is what a famous Legionnaire looks like."

She turned in her seat to look up into a face she hadn't seen in almost three years.

"Cody!" she exclaimed. She turned to Brainiac 5 who was looking at first her, then the boy, then back at her curiously. "This is Cody Ryan, he's an old acquaintance of mine." She explained. "Cody, this is Brain-"

"Brainiac 5, I've heard about the rouge Coluan. It's nice to meet the genius behind the Legion." Cody reached out a hand and shook Brainiac 5's. Brainy looked a little cold when his home planet was mentioned and Diana thought it best to change the subject.

"So how have you been?"

"Alright for the most part. I got that internship at the Superman Museum like I wanted and I've been slowly moving my way up the chain of command there. I'll tell ya all about it over lunch. That is," his dark green eyes looked over at Brainiac 5 who was staring at him, trying, Diana knew, to analyze what kind of guy he was. "your friend here doesn't mind that I'm stealing you away."

"Stealing me?" she asked tartly. "You really do have a short memory, don't you? You can't steal me if I don't wish to join you. And Brainy knows that I can make up my own mind, he nor anyone else tells me what to do."

Cody busted up laughing. "You're right. I forgot how head strong you are. Let me rephrase then. Would you like to join me for lunch, Diana Jones? I would love to catch up with you."

She laughed a little and turned to Brainy who was staring at her. She instantly knew he was trying to tell her something. "Why don't you go and sit at that table by the window and if I show up in five minutes, you have yourself a date. If I don't, I'll see ya round." She said. He nodded and walked off to the table she had indicated. "What?" she asked Brainy the moment Cody was out of ear shot.

"I know you can take care of yourself, but watch it with that guy. He's arrogant, controlling and has an aggressive temper."

"And you were able to deduce this from just a few words." She said amused. He just stared back.

Brainiac 5 was analytical and calculating. He was professional and reserved. He rarely expressed any emotion because he was uncomfortable doing so. Even though he tried to understand and mimic humanity, emotions did not come easy to him. So when he let his anxiety and stubborn 'I know what I'm talking about' look show through at Diana, she knew he was really worried about her. She reached out and squeezed his hand gently.

"I'll be fine." She told him, smiling gently at him. "Like you said, I can take care of myself. Besides, I'm in a crowded café in the middle of the day. Having lunch with the guy isn't exactly risky behavior. And I have my communicator with me. If he tries anything funny you can come swooping in your war tank mode and blast him all the way to sector nine of the Utonium Galexy if you want."

Brainy showed the tiniest smile but his eyes were still anxious as she stood up.

"You don't mind that I go have lunch with him, do you?" she asked, almost guiltily. She just realized that she had assumed it would be okay with him if she went.

"You go ahead." He said, now widening his smile. "There's just the viewing of the data on that screw, but I doubt you'll wanna see what really goes on inside Lightning Lad's head."

"My guess, a lot of electrical static." She laughed as she tried to put the money down to pay for the drinks, but he shook his head, putting his hand out to stop her.

"My treat." He said. She smiled again and waved goodbye.

"Four and half minutes. I was beginning to worry I had been stood up." Cody laughed as Shadowflames took her seat across from him.

"Who? Me? Never. You know I always keep my word." She teased as he waved the waitress over.

"Right. That's why you word your promises so carefully. So if by some chance you can't fulfill them, you still aren't technically breaking your word."

"I'm that transparent, huh?"

"Only to me. But that's just cause I know you so well."

"Almost three years apart and you still have the nerve to say that."

"Trust me, girly, you haven't changed that much. Still dress like a boy, still act tough, but anyone can see it's all just an act."

There was a break as they ordered their lunch and the waitress brought fresh sodas.

"An act, huh?" Diana said, starting to feel scared. No one at the Legion said she was a fake, they acted generally intimidated whenever she so coolly dismissed their advances or showed her true power in battle. Maybe she was transparent, more than she thought or wanted to accept anyways.

"Well, it's obvious. But that's one thing that makes you cute."

"Cute?" she asked, now completely numb plus.

"Yeah, your childish behavior, small voice and your naïve innocence when it comes to social communication makes your tough tomboy act adorable. And makes you even more scary then you really are. You're like an innocent killer, it's a little shocking if you think about it."

"So I shock you."

"Since the first day we met at that summer camp, yeah." Cody's eyes lit up behind his brown bangs. "When you marched right up to me and walloped my arm for no reason."

"It wasn't for no reason." She protested, laughing herself. "You scared me."

"You were the one setting camp fires with a single jab of your fist and I'm the one who scared you." He said, staring at her in disbelief.

"You wore all black and metal chains and a scowl that said you would stomp on anyone who dare talk to you." She reminded him.

"Then why did you hit me?" he laughed.

"To try and see if you would smile."

"So you cause my arm to go numb and hope that will make me smile."

"I got you to put on a face other than that scowl didn't I? And later it gave me something to talk to you about. I apologize for the punch and we start a conversation. Before you know it I'm laughing and you're grinning like you just won a hundred bucks." She shrugged. "It might have been a bit crude, but the method behind the madness worked, didn't it?"

The finished their lunch and continued to talk for another hour and half; laughing about the past and explaining about where each other was at the present time.

"So you're a full time Legionnaire now." Cody said after Diana finished telling him about her try out session in front of Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5 and Lightning Lad. She nodded, taking a sip of her soda.

"I think I finally found a home with them, ya know?"

"So you think you can trust them?"

"Cody, we've been in countless battles together. After the third or fourth time you're staring death in the face and you live because of your team mate's quick thinking or stupid bravery, you can't help but trust them. I've lived with them for two years now. If they haven't done anything to me yet to make me doubt how they feel about me, I don't think they ever will."

"Still, I didn't like the way that green guy was looking at you. It reminded me of-"

"I know what you're going to say, and don't. Brainy's not like that. He has trouble as it is expressing himself, he prefers working on some new toy of his rather than human interaction. He isn't like Damien, and if he was I would kick his metallic ass till he was just a pile of spark plugs. These guys care about me, honest."

"The look in his eye was possessive Di. I don't want to see you get hurt again. Not after all that you've been through already."

"Do I detect concern?" she asked teasingly.

"A lot of it." He replied.

"Well, let me ease your mind by ordering dessert."

"And how will ice cream make me less worried?"

"I don't know. But I know it'll calm me down." She laughed.

"Hype you up more like." He muttered before calling their waitress over again.

When the ice cream came and vanished almost as quickly Cody slid a holographic note over to Diana who was licking her spoon clean.

"My personal screen number." He said smiling. "If you ever wanna talk, seriously."

She quickly wrote hers down as well and handed it to him. "Same goes for you, seriously." He smiled.

Cody paid the bill and they walked outside together.

"I'm going this way." She said, pointing to the right.

"And my destination lies this away." He smiled, pointing to his left. Diana was about to say, 'Well, catch ya later'. But before she could get the first word out, Cody swooped down and kissed her on lips, holding it there for about five seconds, before turning around and starting to walk off. He lifted his hand and said without turning back around, "Catch ya later, Kid."

She stood there, stunned for a moment. Then, shaking her head, she turned and rose in the air heading home.

She smiled to herself as she flew over the city. She could remember the first day she flew in formation with the team. She had been petrified of flying. It had taken her a few tries to get the hang of the flight ring. Once she was able to rise a few feet off the ground they had taken off. She flew beneath them, unsteadily and kept looking down, almost paralyzed with fear as she thought _I'm dead, I'm dead, I'm totally going to die._ Then she had looked to her right and had seen Brainiac 5 of all people flying next to her, holding his hand out. She took it and let him support her up to the others. He had eased his hand away and she gradually felt in control. She had soared up over the team, circled them, flew beneath them once more before finally settling in a position behind them, only to be dragged back to the center by Brainy who, this second time, kept a firm hand in hers. It had been the happiest feelings she had ever felt, along with the freakiest. And it was this memory, this feeling that filled her as she flew back to HQ, Cody's kiss still tingling on her lips.


	3. Demons From The Past

Ch. 3: Demons From The Past

"What's with you?" Lightning Lad asked as Diana came walking into the building, calm and collective but still blushing.

"Nothing." She said. Maybe it was her red cheeks, or her too casual tone or perhaps she sounded just has euphoric as she felt despite her attempts to hide it; but instantly she was surrounded.

"What's his name?" asked Triplicate Girl who had split into all three clones so as to thoroughly trap Shadowflames.

"Does he have powers or is he just a regular guy?" asked the orange clone.

"What does he look like?" asked the purple clone.

"Is he cute?" asked Phantom Girl.

"Does he have a brother?" asked Shrinking Violet.

Diana felt completely overwhelmed. _A little help Blondie?_ She asked telepathically to Saturn Girl who responded in the same manner. _I'm actually curious to know more about him myself. We've been holding our breath ever since Brainy told us you had run into an old boyfriend. _Shadowflames stole an annoyed glance at the blonde android who was busily typing on the giant computer, apparently oblivious to the gaggle of girls pelting question after question at her.

"Well…ummm….he's…" she had no idea where or how to start.

"No way!" cried the white triplicate. "What's that?" she pointed to Diana's lips.

"What?" she demanded, feeling her face get hotter.

"He kissed you!" exclaimed Phantom Girl as Shrinking Violet snorted with laughter.

"No! I mean- It isn't what- How do you know!" her face was literally on fire now, flames dancing on her cheeks. She raised both hands and smacked them out furiously.

"He did!" cried the orange one as all five girls collapsed with laughter and Saturn Girl, who was standing behind them covered her own mouth.

"Details!" cried out Phantom Girl through her laughter. She grabbed Diana's hand and the purple clone's. They formed a chain with the remainder four girls, the other two clones, Shrinking Violet and Saturn Girl, and Phantom Girl flew all of them out of the room, phasing them through the wall.

"Okay…" said Lightning Lad looking over at Cosmic Boy, Brainiac 5, Chameleon Boy, Timber Wolf and Bouncing Boy.

"Call me what you will," said Brainy, finally looking up and staring at the spot where the girls had vanished. "but I don't think I'll ever understand the human species."

"As far as girls go, I'm with ya bro." said Chameleon Boy shaking his head in confusion.

"Cody, huh?"

"Yeah, Cody Ryan. I've known him since we were little, ever since I arrived in the 31st century. We grew up in the same sector of the city, but never knew it until we met at a summer camp designed for kids who were in the system. Once I arrived here, I was found by a cop and put into a group home. Cody and I got along great and have been tight ever since that summer when I was ten. He knows me probably more than I know myself."

"I doubt that." Laughed Saturn Girl. "You know yourself pretty well, Di."

Diana nodded thoughtfully but didn't reply. If she was honest with herself, she barely knew, or so she believed, herself at all.

"Anyways, does he have a brother or not?" demanded Shrinking Violet, looking a little desperate.

"What do you care, Salu?" asked Diana looking over at the purple haired girl. "I thought you and Querl had something going on."

"Brainy and I did have a spark, once. But that ended a long time ago. He wasn't ready to experience love and it turned out that we were best suited to be more like brother and sister. We still have these random spark moments, but it will never go anywhere. I've even stopped feeling the initial attraction I had for him back then." She explained quietly, a small smile playing on her lips. "He's great, don't get me wrong, but Querl Dox and I just weren't meant to be. Besides," she added looking up at Diana grinning widely. "he has the hots for someone else now a days."

"Who?" Diana asked, hugging a stuffed panda to her chest. A few hours had passed and the girls finally broke Diana's will and got her to spill. All of them were now sitting in her room discussing the apparently interesting events of Diana's day.

"You mean you haven't picked up on it?" the orange triplicate asked amused.

"With you being as abservant as you are, we were sure you knew." Giggled the purple clone.

"Well, on the other hand it isn't really that surprising, seeing as how you're not really the kind of girl who actually looks for it after all." Added the white one thoughtfully.

"What are you talking about?" asked Diana, confused and trying not to think of what Cody had told her in the café about the way Brainy had been looking at her.

"You honestly don't see the way he looks at you?" Saturn Girl asked in bewilderment. Diana shook her head.

"Well," she said slowly. "Cody said he noticed Brainy looking at me in a…well…possessive way. I told him he was crazy, because he was, wasn't he?"

"To someone who doesn't know Querl Dox they probably would mistake that look as possessive. But anyone who really knows Brainy would see that it's more protective. He's intrigued, curious. He doesn't know how to handle what he's feeling most likely. He views you almost as highly as he views Superman, which for him, is a huge honor on your part. You should have heard him when he told us you had run into an old friend. He sounded quite jealous to say the least. He doesn't want to own or control you, he wants to spend time with you and understand you, that's all." Phantom Girl said simply. "He's reserved, but he has emotions. He's-"

"right outside the door." Said Saturn Girl. They all fell silent. Diana raised her hand and widened a shadow on the wall that was close to the automatic door. Instantly Brianiac 5 fell through the barrier, landing on the floor with a loud 'UMPH'.

"Something you need to tell us?" Diana asked teasingly.

"I just- I wasn't- I wanted to know if you were planning on joining me in the library or not." Brainy spluttered, his metallic face not showing any signs that he was uncomfortable except for his eyes shifting from side to side, looking anywhere except at the seven girls (if you counted the three clones) sitting in front of him.

"Sure, I'll join you in a moment. I'm almost done talking with these guys. You were going to explain the advancement of bio-technology, so I'll meet you in the science section." She told him with a smile.

He nodded then looked around like he wasn't sure if he should walk through the wall again or not.

"I think the door will suffice this time." She laughed, pointing. He turned and left as quickly as he could.

"Yep." Said the white clone as her other selves laughed behind their hands. "He's totally interested in you."

"So the molecular structure of a human can be reconstructed through lab grown cells?"

"Yes. If someone needed a heart or liver transplant, then all the doctors need to do is take a graft from the damaged organ, use those cells that are encoded with the person's DNA and have them mate with the healthy cells in the lab. The research for this procedure was already undergone by the beginning of the 21st century to be honest. Doctors were able to isolate different cells in a human embryo for example, and greatly reduce the chance of the baby being born with a hereditary disease or manipulate, hypothetically, the genetic code of the cells to control the physical appearance. The hair and eye color, height and metabolism. In the late 28th century, Dr. Mitchel Gordain was able to grow human cells in a lab. The only thing he could not recreate, and so far no one has, is an identical generic code. Because each being, human or other wise, is encoded with it's own unique DNA, the lab grown cells can't truly carry one and still be used with any patient that might need them due to compatibility reasons. Thus, to ensure success they take the cells from the patient and encode the DNA signature onto the blank cells in the lab from the graft of the damaged organ." Brainy explained to Diana later that night. They were sitting side by side, reading from holographic records of old science journals.

"I still don't get it though." She said puzzled. "I get why they need to use the graft of the organ that's damaged. Because each organ carry's a slightly different cellular structure, right? Cells in the hear are different from cells in the liver, for example, right?"

He nodded.

"But if they use a graft from the damaged organ, wont the damage just infect the healthy cells? If DNA codes are all they need, then can't they just scan common blood cells and use healthy cells from healthy organs from a dead donor or something? They can't just use the healthy cells to regenerate the right kind they need and then encode the patient's DNA onto the new cells?"

"You're forgetting that the donor has their own DNA code." Brianiac 5 said patiently, though he looked impress she was able to catch this hypothetical glitch in the procedure. "The donor's DNA and patient's DNA won't be the same, and as of yet, there's no way to erase a DNA code and replace it with another. Even Chameleon Boy's DNA stays the same no matter who he's trying to look or act like. As for the healthy lab cells becoming infected, that risk has been greatly diminished thanks to the discovery that a lazer procedure, if done right, can zap any damage from a cell. The cell isn't complete afterwards, it's damaged but still holds the DNA code that is needed. This helps keep the purpose of the procedure with little risk to the new cells."

"That's amazing." Diana whispered. She stared at the hologram in front of her, her eyes scanning the text as it moved up and down, displaying all the information as if it were on a computer screen. She wasn't fully aware of the look Brainy was giving her.

"So, you're officially going out with this guy."

The comment was so sudden, so unexpected and random that at first, Diana wasn't sure what he was talking about. She turned to stare at him, her hazel eyes still clouded with the new information she was trying to comprehend.

"That guy from the café." He clarified when she didn't respond. When she still remained silent he sighed. "Look, I know it's none of my business and honestly I don't know why I'm uncomfortable. It's illogical seeing as how I don't even know him. But maybe that's the problem. I don't trust him. And I think it very unwise for you to just blindly rush into a relationship with him as well. I'm staying out of it. But, I don't want to see you get hurt, so please, don't do anything rash and don't move too fast with this guy." He said this fast and awkward, as if he wasn't sure the best way to get it out or if he should even try and get it out.

Diana thought of Saturn Girl's words right before they all left to turn in for the night.

"Keep in mind, Di. Emotions are new to him. He's unsure of how to handle them and how to interpret them. He's a lot better than he was when he first joined the team, but he's still struggling. What he's feeling for you, it might not be romantic at all. I doubt very much that even he knows what he's feeling at the moment."

"It's late." She said finally, turning off the hologram and standing up. "I've known him for a really long time, Brainy." She wasn't mean, kept her tone soft and calm. "It's true that we hadn't seen each other in a few years, not since I left the group home. But he knows me quite well and I know him. He's one of the very few people out there, apart from the Legion, who I trust entirely, and you know how hard it is for people to gain my trust." She smiled down at him and he nodded, remembering when she first came to the Legion and how long it took her to really open up and be herself. He had been intrigued with her even back then, glad for once to see he wasn't the only socially uncomfortable team member. She put a hand on his shoulder as she turned to leave. "I told you earlier, Brain Boy, I'm fine. I'll let you know when, if, things with Cody gets out of hand." She gave him her confident 'I have it all under control' smile before walking away.

Brainiac 5 sat in the library for a long time thinking. This was crazy. He cared for her sure, but he cared for all his team mates. So why, for the love of God, was he so worried and uneasy about this Cody Ryan guy. Diana had made it clear that she trusted him, and she knew him a lot better than Brainy did. So even if he didn't trust Ryan he should at least trust Diana. He trusted her no problem. He'd trusted her with his life in combat so many times even he had lost count and each time she not only had come through for him, but for the entire team as well. He shook his head. He was being illogical and letting his emotions run away from him, not the smartest move on his part. If you didn't control your emotions they'd soon control you. He closed his eyes, trying to understand what he was feeling and how to make it stop. Saturn Girl would tell him that it was his gut trying to tell his stubborn mind something was wrong. That was just a simple way of saying that his intuition was trying to override his conscious thought; instinct over shadowing common sense. He was telling himself that, logically, everything was fine. There had been no inclination that Cody Ryan was bad, no raised voice or hand. He shook his head, not allowing the image of Ryan raising a hand to Diana. If he ever did that Brainy would alert the others and the bastard would have a whole super power team to fend off. So if there weren't any facts backing up his theory of Cody Ryan, why did he have a feeling that the guy wasn't exactly all that he appeared to be? Was it the way he so casually assumed he could walk over and swoop Diana away with him? Or the brief look of madness in his eye when she smoothly made it clear to him that she controlled herself and didn't take orders from anyone? Or had it been the way that he was able to charm her so easily, covering up his mistake with such fines that it was like he had never spoken a single arrogant word? Brainy ran a hand through his long blonde hair, his bangs pushing back briefly then falling back into his face. He just didn't know.

Just as he was thinking he should probably get some rest, a loud beeping sounded and red lights started flashing. He walked over into the consul room and up to the communicator screen. He typed some keys, thinking that it was a Legionnaire calling in from a random mission, wanting to give a status report or asking for advice or back up. There were a few minor issues popping up all over the galaxy so he wouldn't be surprised if this was the case. But when the screen finally came on and he saw who it was that had called them; he felt his insides go cold and his guard was immediately up.

_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

"Shadowflames! Come on, wake up! This is urgent!"

"What's da matter?" asked Diana through a thick haze of drowsiness. Chameleon Boy was about to explain when his eyes fell on the stuffed panda under her arm, her other hand rubbing sleep out of her eyes.

"You sleep with a stuffed toy?"

She looked down at the panda. "Hey, Yin Yang has been with me since I got here. He's helped me adjust to the future in many, many ways. Haven't you Yin Yang?" she held the toy up to look into its face, blank black beady eyes stared back at her. "We go everywhere together." She explained to Chameleon Boy. She kissed the panda's nose, gave it a squeeze and then tossed it unceremoniously over her shoulder where it landed on the bed and then slid onto the floor.

"Uh…" he said, pointing over her shoulder as she stepped out past him. "Aren't you-"

"He'll be fine until I come back." She told him with a smile before walking down the hall towards the consul room, straightening her black tee, the long legs of her grey sweats dragging on the floor.

"Diana Jones."

She froze. Her eyes widen as the scene stood in front of her like some terrible dream. All the members of the Legion that were at HQ; Lightning Lad, Bouncing Boy, Brainiac 5, Saturn Girl, Triplicate Girl, Timber Wolf, Phantom Girl, Shrinking Violet and Cosmic Boy; standing in a half circle around the monitor. Chameleon Boy entered behind her and went to stand over by Bouncing Boy and Brainiac 5, all three looking at her along with the rest of them. But her attention was drawn to the telescreen on the wall. Portrayed in a large image was a member of the Scavengers, a band of tech thieves that's been giving the Legion trouble for a few years now. But what was so shocking was the person standing next to him. A tall woman with slick black hair pulled back into a high, short, curly ponytail; wire rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of her nose and a thin twisted smile curled her painted metallic pink lips. Her eyes were closed and her head titled down slightly as she pushed the glasses up with one finger that was painted the same shade of pink as her lips, and addressed Diana.

"Been a long time, Diana, how's my baby girl doing?"

_No, she couldn't be here. This couldn't be real, it just couldn't. _Shadowflames closed her own eyes so as to hide the shock and panic that had crept into them. When she opened them again they held a fierce coldness that took everyone in the room by surprise. None of them had ever seen hate on Diana Jones's face before; she was usually a care free loving girl who couldn't even find it in her to despise the world dominating evil they fought day in and day out.

"Erica, this is quite a surprise." She replied to the woman on the screen. "Are you here alone or is Zeek with you?"

"He's here with me. He actually wants to thank you for your parting gift. Say hi, Zeek."

The image turned to a well built man with brown/red hair and brown eyes, three fourths of his face was scared and a painful pink color. It looked like the fire hadn't killed him after all. Diana wondered how much of his body had been burnt like that, it couldn't just be half of his face, could it?

"We would like to get together with you, Di." He said pleasantly, though Diana knew him well enough to hear the venom in his voice. "We just got here you see, and well, when we heard that our little girl was in town, we just had to track you down. Luckily, our new friends knew exactly how to contact you. Small world still, isn't it? Even with all these new found planets in this incredible future." His face looked terrible, but what made him scary was the smile getting caught in the scars, distorting it into either a grimes of pain or a mad grin of insane delight. It wouldn't surprise her if it was both.

Even with her heart strangling itself with fear as memory upon memory came rushing back to her unwillingly, Diana never lost her cool.

"I don't think I'm interested thanks. You see, I don't associate myself with low life asses who take advantage of others anymore. I'm sorry you made the trip for nothing, but I'm never coming near you two again for as long as I live."

"We're really sorry you feel like that sweety." Erica said, appearing next to Zeek again. "Because no matter what you do or where you go now, we will find a way to get in touch with you. We just want to talk after all, what's so wrong with that?"

"Because your definition of talking and mine are two completely different things." Diana answered coldly. "Now, if you don't mind, it's late. I, as well as my team mates, would like to get back to sleep. Oh, and before we part for the final time, because this will be the last time we ever communicate with each other, I would like to point out that I'm stronger, a hell of a lot stronger these days. You try anything to me and you might just find that you'd be biting off more than you can chew. As for the Scavengers, because I know they're still listening, try to assist them in any way to get a hold of the Legion, I promise you I will leave the team just so I can kill you myself. Screw whatever consequences that may follow. Is that clear?"

Silence.

"Glad to hear we're understanding each other." Diana walked up to the transmitter and slammed her fist onto the 'end' button.

Everyone stared at her not saying anything for a moment. It took a second to see that she was trembling.

"Are you-" started Saturn Girl.

"What was-" began Chameleon Boy.

"Maybe you should have a seat and explain." Said Brainiac 5, coming up behind her and gently taking a hold of her still shaking shoulders and leading her to a chair. She sank into it, not crying but definitely enraged. None of them had ever seen her like this. It was unnerving.

"Those two." She growled. "How the hell did they even get here? The Scavengers couldn't have known about them. And they had no equipment advanced enough to time travel. That was never possible in my time." She sounded like she was talking more to herself than to them.

"Shades." Said Lightning Lad, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Who were they? What do they want with you?"

"Well, I'm afraid they want you all now." She sighed. "At least, that will be their next goal. Their story, is more mine, and I'm not sure-"

"Not the time to go on one of your self preservation talks." Timber Wolf growled. "Look, I know what you're feeling, but you need to trust us with this, especially since you now believe we're caught in the middle. We need to know more about this whether you'd like us to or not."

"Fine." She muttered, taking in a deep breath. "The story is long so if you're no longer tired I suggest you all get comfortable."


	4. Farewell

Okay, I'm not that thrilled with this chapter. It just feels a little rushed or something. But it gets the message across. Let me know how you like it!

Ch. 4: Farewell

"Tom held up the paint brush and started pretending to enjoy painting the fence." The three year old read out loud. Her mother hugged her proudly.

"Isn't she great?" the woman asked her friend who sat next to her on the sofa, a cup of tea in clutched in her hands.

"Unbelievable." Replied the other woman, her long wavy blonde hair tucked behind her ears. "And she's only three?"

Diana's mother nodded. "She's my little genius." She gave her daughter another hug. Just then a baby cry came from the monitor perched on the coffee table in front of them. The mother sat Diana off to the side and hurried to attend to the infant. Diana stopped herself from rolling her eyes, but just barely. She knew her mother was just putting on a show for her friend. She understood that the woman didn't love or care for her or her brother, Kevin. After all, she was the little genius. If she was so smart then why couldn't she find a way to help her brother? She stared burning daggers into her book, unnoticed by the blonde who turned her own attention to a magazine as she waited for the mother to return. The women who came by to chat with her mom discovered very quickly that the only thing they could get out of Diana if they tried to talk to her was a long cold piercing glare. The only person the toddler was ever really warm to was her father. He was a kind cheery man; at least he was til that night when he staggered in five hours late, drunk and crying about loosing his job. That night, Diana not only learned to fear her mother, but her father as well.

She learned that she should not talk, should not make eye contact if she was to survive the day without getting slapped or taunted in ways that would make a grown man shiver in discomfort. She made a point in teaching her brother this as well. Being only a baby he was not as good at controlling himself as she was; something that she never blamed him for but something that made her life even more difficult. Every time he would laugh or cry or beg to be picked up by either of their parents, it was Diana's job to rush to his aid, pull him away or get between him and the offending parent. Most of her bruises and nightmares were caused, not because of her slip ups, but her brother's. Four years passed in that fashion.

When she started school at the age of five she learned how to dress herself to hide the marks that told the truth about her life to the outside world. She made sure she only talked to others about school work or pointless miniscule events, she wouldn't talk at all if she could help it and always had a book with her to escape if things got too pressing. Her teachers had seen her intellect and, despite her mother's insistence that she stay with her own aged class, gave her more challenging work that usually mapped on the fifth or six grade level. However, her world changed once more when the four years were up and she lost her brother.

She had been in her room, writing a paragraph response on the Civil War when she heard the crash. She ran out into the living room to see her father standing over a bleeding four year old Kevin who was cowering and crying. Her mother was sitting on the couch flipping through a magazine, a cigarette in one hand and a martini in the other telling her father to mind the rug. Kevin had spotted his sister but she put her finger to her lips. She picked up the poker by the fire place and started walking up behind her father as the man continued to hit and shout at his son.

"Brat! I told you to keep it down and what do you do? You get louder and start crying that you're hungry! Boy you will learn to shut it when I tell you!"

Diana could smell the booze on him, emanating so strong you would've thought he had bathed in it not drank it. Keven cried harder as his father brought the belt down again and again.

"Leave him alone, Daddy! I'll take care of him, you and Mommy can go to bed now, I'll feed him and make sure he doesn't bother you again." She held the poker, ready to defend herself. Her father turned and laughed at the sight of his seven year old daughter glaring at him.

"Oh no, Princess." He said madly. "You should have been keeping a watch on him already. Where were you? Reading one of those damn fucking books again? You need to lear also. You need to learn that those useless pages are a waste of time and you're place is looking after the brat." He raised his belt again but Diana raised the poker and slapped his wrist, a move she had seen on TV a few weeks before hand. The belt flew from his drunken grasp and he snarled in pain and rage. Clutching his wrist he glared at the little girl who quickly stepped around him and blocked him from getting at her brother. Kevin needed a doctor now, but she didn't know how she could call for help, her parents only had one phone in the house and it was in their room, off limits to the brat and Princess Genius.

The man advanced and snatched the poker from her hands in a quick move that shocked her seeing as how he could barely walk straight.

"Hey! I told you to watch the damn rug you Ape!" called out the mother turning a page and sipping her drink.

The man shoved the girl aside and walked up closer to the trembling toddler. "Now," he said with a disgusting hic-up. "Apologize and say you wont pester me again, boy!" Kevin cried and put his arms over his bleeding head, curling into a tight ball. The man raised the poker high over his head. "What was that?" he roared.

"Daddy, don't! He is sorry! I won't let him bother you!" shouted Diana, now crying herself, fear etched all over her face, She ran to try and help her brother but her father turned and slapped her sideways, causing little popping lights to dance before her. As she struggled to regain focus she heard a loud cry and a terrible thud. Her heart stopped as she strained to hear Kevin's cries. She forced herself to look and felt the room spin as the images before her swam.

"Now you've done it you brainless buffoon! Look at all that! I told you to watch the fucking rug! Now there's blood all over it! Do you have the damn money to replace it Mr. Jobless? I sure as hell don't!"

"Oh shut up you old cow or you'll be joining the brat!"

The brat, Diana's little brother, her only friend and reason for sticking around, Kevin Jones was lying on the rug, face down, blood pooring from the back of his tiny head, matting in his brown hair. Diana fell to the floor once more, her breathing shallow and hard. Tears flooded from her eyes.

She awoke on the same spot later that night and saw that her parents were gone, most likely sleeping off the drinks in their room. They had left Kevin on the rug, obviously he was a mess that would have to wait till the morning. She felt the tears still falling and she gritted her teeth. She ran out of the small house and over to the neighbors who looked irritated until they saw who it was that had awoken them. They had ushered Diana into their house and allowed her to use their phone. The husband had ran to her house and had found little Kevin's body.

The images of the past filled Shadowflames mind as she told her tale to the Legion. "Kevin was buried two days later, free of charge. Mom and Dad were arrested and that was the last I knew of them. At the age of eight I was adopted by two scientists who were thrilled to have their own little genius girl. At first everything was amazing. They gave me not only a large bedroom filled with all the books you could imagine, a desk large enough to hold a computer, printer and reading/writing area; and of course a warm fluffy bed with matching dresser set; but they also gave me my own lab where I could experiment and discover the world on my own. For a whole year I experienced happiness and only had to fight the nightmares of my parents and Kevin's death. During that time I was moved up to a middle school class in the seventh grade, joined a science club where I was able to make a friend or two and invented the teleportation watch that is now busted beyond repair in my room. It wasn't until I was nine that my amazing scientist parents showed their true colors. That year, the second year of paradise, the same man and woman who took me in, fed me, clothed me, read with me at night, helped to chase the nightmares away, and helped me to discover a true love for science and the world around me, started to experiment on me. It started out innocently enough, and it was only a few times a month. However, it quickly because horrific and occurring every day. I was strapped to a metal table and had chemicals pumped into me to see what kind of effect they would have on me. My torture was not unlike Fur Ball's." she gestured towards Timber Wolf who, like the others, was so horrified at her story that he didn't even give his usual growl at her nickname for him. "It was their experimentations that gave me the powers I have now. One night, I lost control and the whole house, lab and all, burst into flame. Zeek was the one holding me down while Erica scanned a monitor that was reading my vitals. They had just injected me with God knows what and I remember hearing them arguing about the amount of chemicals and everything. Erica was telling him that they needed to stop for the night because I was showing troubling signs of failure, what ever that meant. I remember thinking that if I ended up dying right then and there I wouldn't mind because I'd be free from them and reunited with Kevin. But Zeek wouldn't let up, he just held me down tighter as I started to seize and snapped at her that I would be alright in a few minutes. Well, the few minutes passed and I was alright. The building however, was not. There was fire everywhere and Zeek was caught in most of it. I found myself free from the restraints and just stared as the flames ate him, Erica had run out of the back door, trying to get to the fire extinguisher I think. I didn't wait around to find out. I dashed to my own lab that hadn't been effected by the fire yet and grabbed my watch. Then I ran out into the woods behind our house. I tripped and decided to give the watch a test run, figured that it seemed like a pretty good time, ya know?" she looked up through numb eyes and tried to give a sort of grin that didn't quite make it. "I ended up here and, well, you know what happened next. I got picked up by a cop. I explained I was from the past and he thought I was crazy until I showed him my watch. He took me to a hospital where I was examined, then my watch was given to some scientists to be analyzed before returned to me and I was stuffed into a group home where I stayed until I was seventeen. I heard about the famous Legion of Superheroes and decided to join up." She paused, staring at them all who looked lost for words. "Well, there ya go." She said. "Now you know the whole story. I hope you enjoyed it, no refunds and no encore." She put her forehead into her palms and rubbed the wrinkles out of her skin.

"Well, now we know why you freak whenever you come in contact with needles." Said Lightning Lad after a few more moments of shocked silence.

Saturn Girl knelt down and put an arm around Diana who had half a mind of shrugging her off. Saturn Girl must of read this because she dropped her arm but remained by the chair's side.

"Di, we're so sorry that happened to you." She whispered.

"I'm not." Sighed Diana. "I mean, come on. I wouldn't have gotten these cool powers or hooked up with the weirdest yet most amazing group of people ever to exist." She was putting on a brave face and they all knew it. Her pain and frustration was written on her face and heard in her voice.

"When was the last time you spoke about this to anyone?" Chameleon Boy asked.

"I've only talked about this one other time, about five years ago. But that person doesn't know nearly as much as what I told you. All they know is that my brother died, I was abused by my adopted parents and as a result can shoot fire from my hand, and that I'm from the past. You guys have the glorified privilege of hearing all the heart wrenching details, congratulations."

"Why do you think that we're now targets for these two?" Cosmic Boy asked.

"Erica and Zeek are notorious for finding a way to get their hands on what they want. Hell, they found a way to follow me here to the future and I'm not even sure how they managed that. Zeek survived white hot flames that attacked his body just so he can repay me. That parting gift they were talking about, yeah, that was my fire burning over half his body as you all saw. He didn't seem to happy with that gift did he? I would have given him a puppy but I thought fire had more of a bite to it, don't you?"

No one laughed though Bouncing Boy smiled weekly.

"Now that they know where I am, they will try to get a hand on me to either finish their research. It seems kind of pointless now, because whatever work they were doing back then would either be forgotten or accomplished by another scientist by now. I don't know what they're aim is but I know they'll want to get to me if for no other reason then to get back at me for that little light show and lets not forget running away. I just told them to bug off and you all were standing around me. They'll try to get to me through you, something that I really wouldn't like to have on my conscience if it's all the same to you guys."

"No complaints." Said Chameleon Boy.

"Well, what do we do?" asked Bouncing Boy.

"Nothing."

Everyone turned to look at Brainiac 5. He was staring hard at Shadowflames, as if he was really seeing her for the first time.

"Do I have something on my face or something?" she asked staring back at him. He didn't answer.

"What do you mean 'nothing'?" demanded Phantom Girl. "We have to do something."

"No. We wait to see what they're next move is, then we address the situation. Until then, we work on the parasites and the other issues that are actually going on. This is just another theoretical danger. We can't do anything unless they do something first."

"He's right." Diana said, feeling strangely drained all of a sudden. "We just need to see what happens next. How can we stop something that hasn't even happened yet?"

They all looked at one another and resigned. Shadowflames stood up and rubbed the back of her head, ruffling her short brown hair so it stood on end.

"I'm off to bed you guys. If they call again, I'm not here." She walked out of the room and down the hall. When she reached her room she picked up Yin Yang from the floor, crawled under the sheets on the bed and laid on her side, clutching the panda tight for support. She hadn't thought about her past for five years and now, she sighed, pushing her face into her pillow. She couldn't stop the images of Kevin, her parents, Erica and Zeek and the fire out of her mind. To her irritation Damien kept popping up as well. Ever since Cody mentioned him she was fighting his ghost that refused to leave her head. She saw his wide smile, his dancing blue eyes and his black hair that was tied at the base of his neck.

"Diana, it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you."

The next morning Diana was greatful for a few things. One, that no one at HQ had super hearing; two, that she was a silent sufferer; and three, that no one else had called in the night. She wasn't sure when her memories turned into the nightmares but she knew that one moment she was hugging Yin Yang and telling herself to stop thinking about it all and the next she was reliving everything. She had woken up with her face planted in her pillow and silent tears running down her face. She quickly pulled herself together. She did not cry, and if any of the others knew about this they would think she was loosing it. She had done a lot better than she could have dreamed when she told them her story, with no tears or raised voices. She had successfully detached herself from her emotions though she wasn't quite sure how she had done it. She hadn't enjoyed the feeling much, but the method had worked.

"Wow, you look-"

"Zombifide?"

"tired." Finished Cody as he stared at the small screen in his hand. "Di how much sleep have you had?"

"You mean in the last 24 hours or in the last two weeks?" she asked, slumping on her bed and pulling Yin Yang close to her.

Two and half weeks had passed since the call from the past and she was still fighting the nightmares. Not to mention she had made three concecutive trips to Midar with Cosmic Boy, Phantom Girl and Brainiac 5 to try and sort out the parasites that seem to find ways of escaping despite all their efforts of keeping them locked in the lab. Shadowflames, on the last trip, tired and annoyed had suggested with a slightly mad grin that they just round all the metal worms up and allow her to insinerate them till they were a pile of melted computer chips. The others had held her back and reasoned with her but she still kept a slightly scary light in her eyes until they packed her up in the ship and headed back to Earth. Now, after the two day trip she was a little better but dramatically sleep deprived. It was going on 96 hours with no sleep and she was starting to see things. She almost BQ poor Shrinking Violet thinking she was a bug that was trying to get inside her head. She had been ordered by everyone to go get some rest. But how was she supposed to do that when, even if she wasn't flying to the third quadrent, she couldn't stay asleep? Every time she closed her eyes she saw Erica and Zeek's malicious grins and Kevin's bloody face crying and demanding to know why she had let him die. Did the others know about this? Of course not. But, she could tell Cody. He didn't know about her past like the Legion, but he knew about her nightmares from camp and he had always told her she could talk to him about them if she needed to. She found that when she spoke them aloud they were easier to handle. Well, two weeks of them and no one to discuss them with at HQ, she needed to hold him up on his offer now.

"Diana? You still with me, Hun?"

"Yeah, Babe, I'm here." She responded.

She couldn't remember when they had started using pet names but she liked it. They had met for another lunch date the day after the call and she had walked right up to him and kissed him hello. That was all there was to the matter. No discussion on relationship status or anything, just a quick kiss and a 'love you' afterwards. Plain and simple, just the way they liked to keep things.

"You have more nightmares?" he asked softly. She nodded and then explained her most recent dreams to him. He listened patiently and when she was done put his fingertips to the screen.

"I am so sorry, Diana. I wish I could be there. Why don't you take a breather from the Legion for a few days and get your head straight? If you try to go into the field right now you'll be killed almost instantly."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Babe."

"I'm serious. I know you're probably the strongest girl on that team but if you don't pull it together you wont servive. It's not due to your lack of power but to your lack of sleep. I don't like you being in harm's way while you're like this, Di. Try and get some rest now, I'll call back in a few hours to check up on you. I love you, Hun." He gave a quick kiss in her direction and she returned the motion.

"Same here." She said with a stifled yawn. "Talk to you later, Babe."

Diana hit the 'end' button on her personal teliscreen and set it aside before collapsing backwards and closing her eyes. She was so tired. She was almost out when she heard the beeping of her teliscreen. Thinking that she was going to kill Cody if he was on the other end, she answered with a very drowsy "Yo."

"Diana, we were wondering if you would like to get together tonight."

She tensed. This had to be a nightmare, it had to be. She slapped her cheek a little harder than necessary, trying to wake herself up. But the same person was on the screen. So, she was hallucinating again, right?

"We hate arguing with you, honey, and we really would like to smooth everything over." Erica was now saying. "We want to take you out to dinner, maybe get some pizza? We know it's your favorite."

"How did you-"

"Get your number? Well, we told you we were going to keep in touch, dear. We miss our little girl so much."

"You mean you miss your little lab rat so much." Growled Diana.

"Is that all you think you are to us, Diana? Sweety we love you and want you to come home, that's all."

There came a knock at her door and Phantom Girl's call for her to come out.

"What is it?" Diana asked.

"We need to discuss the parasites with the others." She called back. "Brainy thinks he's figured something out."

"Be there in a sec." Turning back to the screen in her hand she glowered at her old adoptive mother. "Get stuffed." She hung up and walked out.

"What is he thinking?" she asked Phantom Girl as they walked down the hall together.

"I'm not sure. Something about who keeps releasing the parasites I think." She responded.

"Cool." Diana said. "Knew he'd figure something out sooner or la-"

"Shadowflames?" Phantom Girl turned around. "Shades!" she grabbed Diana before the girl had a chance to hit the marble floor. "Diana! Di! Can you hear me?"

Diana was limp and unresponsive, she had fainted.

"She's exhausted." Saturn Girl explained to the others later. Phantom Girl had carried Diana to the consul room and gotten help. Now, Diana was hooked up to some machines in the infirmary. "She just needs some rest."

"But, she hasn't had any less sleep than the rest of us and no one else is passing out." Stated Lightning Lad bewildered.

"Actually, she hasn't slept in four days." Saturn Girl said, scanning Shadowflames's mind cautiously. "Aparently, she hasn't told us she's been fighting nightmares."

"Is it any wonder?" asked Cosmic Boy. "Look at what she had to relive, just because the past wont let her go."

"She still should have said something." Said Bouncing Boy. "I mean, how does she expect to be strong enough to fight if she can't even walk down a hall?"

"Have you ever known Shadowflames to complain or ask for help, ever?" asked Triplicate Girl. "She doesn't like others to know what's going on with her."

"That's an understatement." Said Saturn Girl. "I have to be careful not to alert her to my presence. I tried reading her mind before, the first time she was injured in battle to make sure she wasn't seriously hurt and her will alone tossed me out before I could see much."

They all looked down at Diana's sleeping face, pale and twisted in fear, tears leaking from her closed eyes.

"I'd help her with that nightmare she's trapped in now, but she'd just push me away. If not during the dream then when she wakes up. Any case, I think she needs to fight them on her own."

"You ever see her cry before?" Chameleon Boy asked softly. "It's a bit scary to see."

"Not really." Said Bouncing Boy. "At least now we know she actually has emotions other than cynical sarcasm."

"Bouncy that's just her mask and you know it." Phantom Girl said exasperatedly. Saturn Girl nodded.

"She's a lot like Brainy." She added. Brainy looked at her. "She doesn't express emotions well and feels like she has to always be the strong one. I think this is just getting too much for her though."

"Get that from my head, Blondie?"

They all jumped.

"You're awake already?" Brainy asked amazed.

"I don't like people poking their noses in my head so I decided to see what kind of condition I was in that would allow my guard to be down enough for her to get in." Diana said weekly. "Why am I in the infirmary?"

"You collapsed in the hall." Phantom Girl said shortly.

"Is it true you haven't slept in four days?" asked Lightning Lad.

"Has it been that long?"

"This isn't a joke, Shades. You need sleep." Said Brainy. "Your body can't function right without it. Even people in the 21st century knew that much."

"Yeah, Brain Boy, I do have enough brains to know that. Unfortunately those brains just have too much other stuff to worry about at the moment." She said a little harsher than she intended.

"Diana, we're just worried about you." Saturn Girl said softly.

"Don't." Diana said. "I'm fine. I just have a few things to deal with. Things, by the way, I'd appreciate you don't mention if you saw them."

Saturn Girl blushed. She usually didn't pry into people's thought unless they gave her permission, but she had slightly bent this rule with Diana because she was so evasive. "I won't." she said. "You get some more rest, we'll check in on you in a while." She hearded th others out, hoping that the desire she saw in Diana's mind wouldn't become reality.

A few days later Diana walked into the lounge, a small bag slung over her shoulder. She saw Lightning Lad, Timber Wolf, Cosmic Boy and Chameleon Boy sitting around playing cards. They looked up when she entered.

"Hey." Said Cosmic Boy as he tossed a card down and held his hand out to Timber Wolf who reluctantly handed him one from his own hand.

"There you are."

Diana turned around and saw Brainy standing there looking at a tablet in his hands. "I need to run some theories by you about the parasites. I think I know-" he broke off when he saw the bag. "Going somewhere?"

"Well…" she began as the other boys looked up from their card game. "yeah."

"What?" said Lightning Lad. "Where?"

"I'm taking a few days off."

There was a pause.

"Come again?" said Cosmic Boy.

"I just need to be able to handle all these things that, for some reason wont leave me alone." She said hastily. "I can't explain it properly. All you need to know is that I'm not strong enough to deal with the past right now, and I need to take some time to try and get it under control. Plus, leaving will take the target sign off of you guys."

This was true, seeing as how the terror parents as she called Erica and Zeek, had tried to kidnap Phantom Girl to force Diana to meet with them. They didn't know that Phantom Girl was not easily contained so thankfully it had been an epic fail on their part. However, Diana was feeling emencily guilty about the whole thing and decided that Cody had been right. If she backed off for a few days than she could clear her head, get recharged, and hopefully keep her friends safe.

"Where are you going?" asked Brainiac 5, his eyes narrowing.

"Well…I'm going to crash with Cody for a while. Just a few days, no more than a week." She said. Brainy's face hardened. "Look, it wont be like Superman and Alexis." She added hastily.

"How do you-" began Lightning Lad but Diana just smiled wearily.

"It was in some old files I read about ages ago."

Lightning Lad looked over at Brainy.

"I thought Alexis was a criminal worth recording in case she ever broke out of jail. She almost destroyed us and most likely she would want revenge on us for almost exploding her." He said defensively.

"Any ways, I have my communicator if you guys need me. It'll stay on, but please try not to need me too much. I mean, don't hesitate to call, but make sure it's because you guys are getting your butts kicked before hand." She looked so guilty the others walked up to her and each assured her that it was okay.

"You need sometime to sort through all this. It's not everyday your past comes back and tries to get at you." Said Chameleon Boy. "We'll be fine."

She smiled greatfully and turned to Brainiac 5 who was determinately looking at his tablet. She walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll be back." She told him and then walked away as he looked up and stared after her, putting a hand where her's had been. He had a bad feeling that this would be the last time he would see her. It wasn't till she came back that he really knew how right gut feelings could be at times.


End file.
